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NewsNewsMatch IPL is Coming to The City of Joy For Season 2 on March 31

Match IPL is Coming to The City of Joy For Season 2 on March 31

PG NewsFebruary 26, 2018

8 mins Read

After the grand success of Season 1, Match Indian Poker League (MIPL) launched by Raj and Shilpa Shetty Kundra’s Viaan Industries Ltd. and Switzerland-based International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP), has finally announced the second season of the one-of-a-kind league. The upcoming edition will be held on March 31, 2018 in the City of Joy – Kolkata.

Now for Season 2, a lot of changes have been introduced in the format of the league in addition to inclusion of three new teams. For starters, this chapter will be hosted in Kolkata and will be a one-day event instead of the two-day grand finale witnessed in the inaugural edition.

Match IPL has also added three more city-based teams namely UP Indians, Pune Kings and Haryana Hawks while Team Goa King’s has been rebranded to Goa Lions, which has a new set of owners.

Coming to the biggest attraction of the League – the prize money, the winning team will get their hands on the ₹40 Lakhs top prize along with the chance to represent Team India at the Match Poker Asia Nations Cup to be held in Bangkok in April.

New Season, New Teams

Season 2 of Match IPL will see three new franchisees namely UP Indians, Pune Kings and Haryana Hawks. Match IPL promises to be even larger, given that now a total of ten teams will be vying for the top spot along with a chance to represent Team India at the Match Poker Asia Nations Cup.

Format

Season 2 of Match Indian Poker League (Match IPL) will be held on March 31, 2018 in Kolkata. The league will see a total of 156 hands play out with strategy breaks for all the 10 participating teams. Each team will induct 8 players and the one-day grand finale will take place over four sessions.

Qualification Criteria

Qualification criteria for Match IPL remains exactly the same as Season 1. The first step to qualify is to download the Match Poker app and register for your IFMP Membership. In the next step, players have to complete against the resident Match Poker AI-bot, Albi. Once a player plays over 1,000 rated hands against Albi, players will find themselves in the Gold club, where the most skillful players will become eligible for team selection.

Prizes For Winning Teams

1st place – ₹40 Lakhs

2nd place – ₹25 Lakhs

3rd place – ₹20 Lakhs

4th place – ₹15 Lakhs

Three New Teams and Other Changes

Goa Lions

Team Goa has been rebranded from the erstwhile Goa Kings to Goa Lions.

The new team owners are –

Navdha Taparia (CEO) – Taparia boasts of over nine solid years of experience in the fields of marketing, branding and consulting in various industrial segments. With experience in managing & marketing various fantasy leagues, she was also a part of the Cricket World Cup 16, Audi Quattro Cup, AUDI CXO Circle, chapter I. She is no novice at the game of poker either and will be helming Team Goa Lions as its CEO. Taparia holds a major in Marketing from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and has also represented her state and school in various sports at national level. She currently plays rugby for Calcutta Cricket & Football Club (CCFC).

Suraj Chokhani (Managing Director – Ability Games Pvt. Ltd.) – Ability Games is the parent company behind Goa Lions and PokerLion.com. Chokhani’s immense knowledge and expertise in financial products and stock market has made him a sought-after venture accelerator. He is also a renowned philanthropist, who believes in giving back to the society. He has made significant contributions in the field of child education, women empowerment and rural development.

Navneet Makharia (Director & CEO – Ability Games Pvt. Ltd.) – Makharia holds an MBA degree from IMT and a B.Tech degree from VIT Vellore. Having established Leo Cements and www.speedmedicine.com as successful ventures quite early in his professional life, he has been on boarded by Ability Games as its CEO all because of his love for poker. Navneet is also working on making www.pokerlion.com and www.rummy24.com the most popular real money-gaming ventures in the country.

UP Indians

Janhavee Droliya – A businesswoman and proud mother, Droliya was behind setting up the international business for one of the top pen and stationery companies of India. She is well travelled and has a keen interest in different cultures from around the world. Her focus and commitment can be seen through her achievements in academics where she holds over 10 gold medals from the largest university in the country.

Abhishek Jalan – Coming from the roots of Varanasi, Jalan is a businessman by profession and Director of Jalan Synthetics. His enthusiasm is clearly visible with his expressive nature during poker events conducted all across the country. He also runs a successful poker stable called AceJack where young and fresh poker talents are nurtured. He also runs India's first live cash game staking stable that has over 20 players.

Rohit Chokhani – Founder of the investment company White Unicorn ventures, he has a strong finance background with a focus on risk mitigation, investment and management. He is also a serial investor with exposure in many industries like e-marketplaces, travel and auto, real estate, consumer Internet, education, media, hospitality, and F & B etc.

Anup Palod – An ex-investment banker, Palod has spent a decade working in various profiles with Bank of America and JP Morgan in Mumbai. His passion toward numbers landed him in the poker industry and he finally quit his job in 2017 to become an entrepreneur. Anup is co-founder of India's biggest poker staking and coaching portal Indian Poker Pros (IPP).

Rannvijay Singh – Rannvijay Singh is an Indian TV host, VJ and proud co-owner of UP Indians. A youth icon, Rannvijay is an avid poker player and has actively taken part in poker tournaments in the past. He believes in the skill-based aspect of poker as a sport and has the wit and sharpness to match it.

Haryana Hawks

Haryana Hawks, true to its mascot, “Hawk”, is a fierce team that aspires to fly higher than before to achieve new heights. At the helm of the team are the sharpest minds with diverse and rich experience, leading the best poker professionals.

Pulkit Totla – An ex-investment banker and a second-generation entrepreneur, Totla is an alumni of one of the top business schools of India, FMS, Delhi and a poker enthusiast. He has been managing funds and helping people multiply their money. With daunting management skills, Totla is an assurance of success for any business he gets involved in. His love for poker has made him a very well-known personality in the Indian Poker Industry.

Nitin Maheshwari – A person of utmost determination and positivity, Maheshwari carries an energetic and charismatic personality. He is the Founder – Director of Gajanan Group which is a conglomerate of companies functioning in several industries as diverse as steel, real estate and logistics.

Jitendra Agarwal – Is a Renowned Practicing Chartered Accountant and CEO of Rajasthan’s best Investment Advisory company. His company is currently handling, Equity Mutual Funds AUM of more than 500 crores and managing funds of various HNI’s.

Jagdeep Singh – Is an alumnus of reputed business school IIM, Lucknow and is one of the most successful professional Pot Limit Omaha players in India. He was part of the winning team (Mumbai All Stars) of Match IPL in the inaugural season.

Kalyan Chakravarthy – An alumnus of IIT Delhi and a well-known professional poker player, Chakravarthy has tasted success at both Indian and international poker tournaments and his poker resume even boasts of a WPT title.

Pranjal Batra – An honors graduate of IIT, Bombay, Batra is a big-time poker enthusiast who has been a regular at international poker tournaments even before the poker industry in the country started to flourish.

Pune Kings

Manesh and Moksh Sani – Are the owners of Living Liquidz liquor that is involved in retail, import and distribution along with vineyards. They are actively involved in real estate, hospitality and construction across India.